4th year medical student, Stephen Canton, and orthopaedic resident, Dukens LaBaze, experienced firsthand the inefficiencies in operating room workflow and supply chain processes. Through research and stakeholder discovery, they found that the issues are largely attributed to surgical tool utilization and tray management.
Under the guidance of faculty partner, MaCalus V. Hogan, MD, MBA, the team created Sterile Vision, a platform that utilizes computer vision and machine learning to allow hospitals to streamline these processes without sacrificing the quality of patient care. Canton and LaBaze pitched their idea at the University of Pittsburgh’s, Randall Family Big Idea Competition — a competition that awards $100,000 in total prizes thanks to the generosity of Pitt trustee and alum, Bob Randall, and his family.
This year’s competition kicked off February 14, 2020, with an entrepreneurship bootcamp and ended on April 22, 2020, after three competitive rounds. Originally starting with 90 teams, the field was narrowed to a final 40 teams of 112 students from nine Pitt schools. Sterile Vision won second place in the competition and was awarded $15,000 in seed funding. In past years, many winners have gone on to participate in national pitch competitions, business incubators, and ultimately launch successful startups.
Randall Family Big Idea Competition
